Discussion The Scribble Pad (Fanfic Writing Discussions)

Based on stories about teenagers doing stupid stuff because they are frustrated; want to help with a cause they believe in; or just want to get away so do it feel sufficient.

 

Yeah, I was just thinking it was good to emphasize her teenishness to show her being impulsive. Teens have amazing intellect and idealism and lack impulse control.

 

I guess I’m trying to distinguish her from Luke’s feelings in ANH, so I think it’s important to emphasize that it’s not only about getting into action for her, but about helping her family.

 

A couple paragraphs of introspection as she actually makes the decision could accomplish this quite nicely.

 

In the UK, we have had a small number of teenage girls head of to join ISIS, and now that the surviving one wants to come back, being told, nope.

Your comment, @Gamiel , puts the story in a whole different light; the incidents of this, such as historical teens lying about their ages to join the army in times of war, are generally so far apart, that I never noticed the pattern.

If you are not daunted by the logistics of leaving a planet, then sure, I can see Kira doing that.

However, I feel that for such a young protagonist to go more than 48 standard hours without getting absorbed into and trapped within the galaxy's dark underbelly, would require enormous amounts of luck.

 

Woah.

I just now Googled it and I see that she's not even sorry. Purely selfish reasons for wanting to return.

Hard to believe they were younger than me and now she's my age, getting involved with ISIS of all things.

Puts leaving a planet to rescue your parents in perspective.

 

So, I've been in a bit of a funk lately - wanting to write but nothing I have in progress has really captured me, making me want to work on it (I already predict my epic fail when it comes to the WIPuary). But I think I know why I'm in a funk. Recently, whenever I let my mind wander, my head goes INSTANTLY to hard-core angst, so I think I'm having one of my 'itches' to write something REAAAAAAALLLLY mean (this has happened before). The problems being 1) I don't wanna be mean to my OCs (or rather not kill them off! I don't ever want to write that story! I'm kidding but I've got no ideas on how I would do any of their deaths justice for my own sake, which leads me too...), and more importantly, 2) I've got nothin' in terms of plot ideas or plot bunnies.

Does anyone have any musical or other type of inspiration for something REALLLLY angsty, so I can write something horribly sad, satisfy my sadistic muse, and move on?

 

In terms of Star Wars, Vaylin was the character who came to mind first when the words 'hard-core angst' flashed across the screen, she's got pathos for light-years, particularly with regard to everything involving Nathema. Also, another horribly sad incident in the SWTOR wheelhouse - that time Valkorion murdered every living thing on Ziost. That cutscene is brutal.

Musically, there's a song called 'Winter Kills' by Dune, that's probably number one on my personal 'softly devastating' playlist.

 

Opera does it for me. From the LJ of opera_cat, a summation/translation of this sextette from Lucia di Lammermoor: ""Chi mi frena in tal momento," the famous sextet from Lucia di Lammermoor. Lucy Ashton (Lucia) has fallen in love with Edgar of Ravenswood (Edgardo), whose family has been at enmity with hers. When her brother Henry (Enrico) discovers this, he does everything possible to separate the couple, including showing Lucy a forged letter that indicates Edgar has married another woman. Henry finally browbeats Lucy into a marriage with the politically well-connected Lord Arthur (Arturo). A few moments after Lucy and Arthur sign the marriage contract, Edgar bursts into the hall. Lucy faints. All present express their varied emotions."

These are Lucy's:

LUCIA LUCY (reviving)
(Io sperai che a me la vita (I hoped that my terror
Tronca avesse il mio spavento... would have ended my life . . .
Ma la morte non m'aita... But death does not help me;
Vivo ancor per mio tormento! -- I still live, for my torment!
Da' miei lumi cadde il velo... The veil has fallen from my eyes:
Mi tradì la terra e il cielo!... Heaven and earth have betrayed me!
Vorrei pianger, ma non posso... I would weep, but I cannot . . .
Ah, mi manca il pianto ancor! ) Even tears fail me!)

 

I LOVE mean fics so I'm biased! But please do write your meanness to your heart's content. I'm new here so I don't exactly remember the outside link policy, but I'm kesskasay on spotify and have a Star Wars playlist that's very angsty! & because I'm new I don't know what your thing is with fanfic, but my very Anakin and/or Ahsoka-focused playlist takes a LOT of songs from Reign of Terror by Sleigh Bells. 'Hyper Dark' / 'It's Just Us Now' off Jessica Rabbit are aso favorites! There's a few off Tyranny by Voidz I also like but Crunch Punch ("He is the creepiest guy in the sky") is a real good one for Anakin. I like Grimes' newer AND oldest stuff, 'My Name is Dark' / 'Nightmusic' etc. for a general Sith feel... 'The Man Who Sold the World' always good. Not sure how pop music is generally received here! And sorry if this is long, but that's my rec! Good luck being mean and tapping into that dark side! Cry havoc and let loose the dogs of war!

 

This is probably personal, and may not work for anyone else...I find the song Dirty Cash, by Stevie V, terribly melancholy, because for some reason that I cannot rationalise, I associate with the heartfelt loss of a Miami Vice detective.

Look it up. Might work for you.

 

gg

 

I feel like I've asked this question or something similar before, but here goes. Lately, one of my OCs has completely taken over all my challenge ideas; every story prompt comes back to her and an AU version of an existing character. The problem is, the stories I've written about them don't get much notice, and I feel like I'm torn between writing for myself and writing things people will really read. I've heard all the arguments in favor of writing what you want to, but for those that have taken that route, how do you deal with the discouragement that comes when what you love continues not to be read? As much as I love these characters, it takes effort to write stories and sometimes I wonder if I'd be better off putting the time and energy into something else.

Thoughts?

 

Basically all I've written in the last year has been about three characters (not OCs, I just like to write about them). There have been points where interest seemed low, but I largely just barrelled on regardless.

The way I find to deal with slow notice is just to assume that once it's done and posted there'll be some gradual trickle over the years. I didn't discover some of my fave fics until years after they were first published, so there's always that hope that someone down the line will appreciate it even if it's quite quiet now. Plus, I just like to get my ideas down for myself as much as anyone else

 

It's so damn fun to write OCs or further a CC's development and so not fun to feel discouraged. It's like being dissed. A correspondent on another site wrote yesterday of discouragement in posting an original story on Wattpad and "only" receiving 1,000 views. *jaw drop* There was no mention of comments, so perhaps the work received none? I dunno.

This here TFN site has a cozier feel, to my way of thinking, and I enjoy its cachet of longevity on the internet, where things are so ephemeral.

True! An unexpected comment years later warms the heart. I've found cross-posting beneficial in that regard, so I hope you gain encouragement from replies to your post and continue to spend quality time with the OCs and AU!characters you love. That counts for something.

 

I totally get this and relate. And I've experienced this since late 2016. My muse has been taken over by mostly OCs for NSWFF. I've tried to also still do some SW FF (most recently for the WIPruary challenge which I'm currently failing epically at), but my muse is just content where it is for now, and very little comes out when I try to write something it just doesn't want to do.

And I will admit, I am super lucky and thankful for one very dedicated reader and friend because some writers don't find that (particularly given OCs and NSWFF). And I've mentioned this before when this topic has been brought up, but if it weren't for that one reader and her comments, my muse probably would have dried up long ago, or I just wouldn't have much motivation to write down whats in my head.

I guess how I deal with it is, when I try to write something else that more people will probably read, my muse will get stubborn and I realize just how NOT fun it is to write something my muse is just not that into. I'll then read some of my previous work (in the same fandom) and realize just how much joy and entertainment I get out of my work, even if just future me is the one getting joy and entertainment from it.

I've tried writing both something that will get more readers and my passion project (and have been trying to do it this month) - and maybe you can find a balance that works for you, but I've never found that balance. My muse just runs away and does what it wants.

And, I think, just reminding myself that I write Fanfic in my spare time and there are less productive ways I can (and often do) spend my spare time than writing stories that makes ME happy.

 

That reminds me on this topic that over the summer (around July/August) I started discussing one of my fics with a single passionate fan of my works. We did a lot of back and forth talking about it, I think that one invested person gave me a lot of drive to keep going. Even the power of one did a lot for my investment, and I even went so far as to commission a cover for the fic from him as a birthday present to myself (he did art as well as fics of his own in the same fandom). It was a really rewarding engagement on top of the writing that made it so much fun.

Sadly that same person has engaged less with my current project (shift in story focus as well him being very busy recently), but we still talk from time to time

 

gg

 

I can totally relate to that. We get invested in our OCs and world-building so much I can totally understand discouragement when nobody seems to read it because it's something you truly put your heart into.

I totally suggest continuing to write these stories---not because you need the comments or views to validate it, but because YOU enjoy it and it makes you happy. And you never know when someone will find your stories and read them and realize how awesome they are--maybe it's exactly the thing they were looking to read, even if just quietly admiring without leaving a comment.

 

gg

 

Okubi or Inaka. I've just read Hesiod's Theogony and if you wish to consider Greek origins, Wiki shows oodles of demonic/darkness names from Nyx, Goddess of the Night, and Eris, Goddess of Discord. Wiki says: "Meanwhile, Nyx (Night) alone produced children: Moros (Doom), Ker (Destiny), Thanatos (Death), Hypnos (Sleep), the Oneiroi (Dreams), Momus (Blame), Oizys (Pain), Hesperides (Daughters of Night), the Moirai (Fates),[34] the Keres (Destinies), Nemesis (Retribution), Apate (Deceit), Philotes (Love), Geras (Old Age), and Eris (Discord).[35]

And from Eris alone, came Ponos (Hardship), Lethe (Forgetfulness), Limos (Starvation), the Algea (Pains), the Hysminai (Battles), the Makhai (Wars), the Phonoi (Murders), the Androktasiai (Manslaughters), the Neikea (Quarrels), the Pseudea (Lies), the Logoi (Stories), the Amphillogiai (Disputes), Dysnomia (Anarchy), Ate (Ruin), and Horkos (Oath).[36]"

I guess the "alone" part means that either nobody measured up to Nyx' or Eris' standards, or Greek gods were just plain scared to approach them ...

 

gg

 

It wouldn't seem many folks would recognize Nyx ... Diana or Artemis, most likely, if they confused the moon goddesses with the concept of a night goddess ...

 

Would you ever post a story that you felt "meh" about? I've been puttering on a story featuring a couple I don't really ship (not that I dislike them, I just don't have strong feelings for them). I finished the first section and while there's nothing wrong with it, my reaction is more like "well, huh...." than "yay!" I'm not sure what to do with this story now: post it and hope someone likes it even if I'm not enthused or just shelve it because there's no spark there. (I've been having a very tough time finding any spark in my writing lately, and I'm half afraid that if I did post this story, people would like it because of the ship, while the things I've enjoyed writing languish.)